WARNING : Don't you judge by reading one article. This site is not for you if you cannot see the otherness of other and sufferings of both sides of the party in the conflict. Security for Israel and Justice for the Palestinians are interdependent, one will not happen without the other. My view focuses on building cohesive societies where no one has to live in apprehension or fear of the other. I hope and pray a sense of justice to prevail. Amen. Website www.IsraelPalestineDialogue.com | Also Check Israel Palestine Confederation a pragmatic solution

Monday, November 19, 2012

5 Lies the Media Keeps Repeating About Gaza

This piece has hit some big readership at Huffington post. My goal at this blog is to present different sensible views. If you do not wish to see a different point of view, please do not read further. Thank you. Mike Ghouse

As Israel continues to pound Gaza, the Palestinian death toll of
the latest round of violence has crossed the 100 mark. Thus far, the American
media has given Israeli officials and spokespersons a free pass to shape the
narrative of this conflict with falsehoods. Here are the top 5 lies the media
doesn't challenge about the crisis in Gaza:

1. Israel Was Forced
to Respond to Rockets to Defend Its Citizens

CNN, like many
other American outlets, chose to begin the story of the latest round of
violence in Gaza on November 10th, when 4 Israeli soldiers were wounded by
Palestinian fire, and the IDF "retaliated" by killing several Palestinians. But
just two days before, a 13 year old Palestinian boy was killed in an Israeli
military incursion into Gaza (among other fatalities in preceding
days). Is there any reason why those couldn't be the starting point of the
"cycle of violence"? The bias was even more blatant in 2008/09, when Israel's
massive assault on Gaza (which killed 1400+ Palestinians) was cast as
self-defense, even though it was acknowledged in passing that
Israel was the party that broke the ceasefire agreement in place at the time.
Are the Palestinians not entitled to self-defense? And if indiscriminate
Palestinian rocket fire is not an acceptable response to Israeli violence (which
it absolutely isn't), how can indiscriminate Israeli bombings of Gaza ever be
acceptable? And why is the broader context, the fact that Gaza remains under
Israeli blockade and military control, overlooked?

2. Israel
Tries to Avoid Civilian Casualties

It must be aggravating for
Israel's propagandists when high-ranking political officials slip and get off
the sanitized/approved message for public consumption. Yesterday, Israeli
Interior Minister Eli Yishai said the "goal of the
operation is to send Gaza back to the Middle Ages." Not to be outdone, Gilad
Sharon, son of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, said "we need to flatten
entire neighborhoods in Gaza. Flatten all of Gaza." If you're thinking this is
just rhetoric, consider the fact that, according to Amnesty International, Israel "flattened... busy neighborhoods" into "moonscapes" during its
last major assault on Gaza in 2008/09. And it wasn't just human rights
organizations that were exposing Israeli war crimes in Gaza, but
Israeli soldiers whose conscience could not bear to remain silent about the atrocities they had committed were also coming
forward.If, for some odd reason, you cannot decide whether it is
official Israeli spokespersons or soldiers of conscience and human rights
investigators who are telling the truth, consider this question: If Hamas has
only managed to kill 3 people despite being bent on killing civilians with
thousands of indiscriminate rockets, how has Israel managed to kill several
dozen Palestinian civilians when it is using sophisticated precision weapons to
avoid civilian casualties? In just one Israeli attack yesterday, Israel killed
more Palestinian civilians in a matter of minutes than the total number of all Israelis killed by rocket fire from Gaza over the last 3 years. The truth is exposed by
the utter disregard for civilian life we see in practice, reaffirmed by
testimonies and investigative evidence.

3. This Is About
Security

If Israel's main objective were indeed to end the
rocket fire from Gaza, all it had to do was accept the truce offered by the
Palestinian factions before the Jabari assassination. And if the blockade of
Gaza was just about keeping weapons from coming in, why are Palestinian exports
from Gaza not allowed out? Why were
food items ever restricted? The truth is,
this isn't about security; it's about punishing the population of Gaza for
domestic Israeli political
consumption. When Gilad Sharon recommended the
decimation of Gaza, he justified it by saying "the residents of Gaza are not
innocent, they elected Hamas." Sharon may find this posturing to be rewarding in
some circles, but it's actually the very same logic used by terrorists to attack
civilians in democracies. Are Israeli civilians considered legitimate targets of
violence because they elected right wing Israeli leaders who commit atrocities
against the Palestinians? Of course not, and only a broken moral compass can
keep this principle from consistently applying to Palestinian civilians as
well.

4. Hamas Is the Problem

Between their religious right-wing domestic agenda, and their refusal to renounce violence against civilians, I'm most
certainly no fan of Hamas. But whenever you hear Israel try to scapegoat Hamas
for the crisis in Gaza, there are two things to consider. First, Hamas hasn't
only showed preparedness to have a truce with Israel if Israel ended its attacks
on Gaza, but has also suggested (though with mixed signals) that it is open to a two-state solution. Second, and more importantly, Hamas didn't come to power until 2006/07.
Between 1993 and 2006 (13 years), Israel had the more moderate, peaceful, and
pliant Palestinian authority (which recognizes Israel and renounces violence) to
deal with as a partner for peace. What did Israel do? Did it make peace? Or did
it continue to occupy Palestinian land, violate Palestinian rights, and usurp
Palestinian resources? What strengthened Hamas and other extremists in Palestine
is precisely the moderates' failure to secure any Palestinian rights through
cooperation and negotiations. The truth is entirely inverted here: it is
Israel's escalating violations of Palestinian rights which strengthen the
extremists.

5. There is a Military Solution to this
Conflict

This is not the first time, and probably not the last, that
Israel has engaged in a military campaign to pummel its opponents into
submission. But are we any closer to ending this conflict today after decades of
violence? The answer is a resounding no. After the 2006 war in Lebanon,
Hezbollah emerged stronger. After the 2009 war on Gaza, Hamas remained in power
and maintained possession of thousands of rockets. Israel's military
superiority, while indeed impressive (thanks to $30 billion in U.S. military aid
this decade), is not stronger than the Palestinian will to live in dignity. The
way to end the firing of rockets in the short term is to agree to a truce and
end the blockade of Gaza. The way to resolve the entire conflict in the long
term is to end Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian lands and allow the
Palestinians to exercise their right to self-determination. We're probably close
to a ceasefire agreement to end this round of violence. The real challenge is
ending the Israeli occupation for long-term peace and security for Israelis and
Palestinians.

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The real threat to the peace process between Israel and Palestine stems from their inability to look at their own policies critically. It is time to quit blaming and start finding solutions. Damn it, the leaders ought to be ashamed of themselves if they cannot look in the eyes of Palestinian and Israeli Children and committ to give them a better life.

The leaders need to learn that, they cannot have peace and security when they keep threatening others around them, period.

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Jews have a need to be understood and be acknowledged of their eternal security needs, not the military, but mental security where they can put their guards down and live their life in peace.

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Palestinians have a need to be understood. They have suffered immeasurably, no human should be stripped of his or her hope and dignity; hope to have a family, work and own a house and call a place their homeland.

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We must protect Israel, our ally; however, if that protection is based on injustice to either Palestinians or the Jews, our integrity becomes questionable. We need to be above reproach and seek justice for one and all.

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The Words

Words are the most powerful weapons of mass destruction. Just about every war and every conflict in the history of mankind has started out with a choice of wrong words.

There was a time when diplomats were trained in the art of speaking and the art of negotiating. Their whole purpose was to bring results through a dialogue.

Power makes one arrogant, and that arrogance translates into treatement of others in less than equal fashion, the mightier may bully and make their way for the moment, but in the back of their minds, they know they have to live with caution every minute of their life, as the oppresse will pounce in the moment of vulnerability.

Let our words become the mitigators of conflict and not aggravaotors - Mike Ghouse

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Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day to the media and the public. He is a speaker thinker and a writer on the topics of pluralism, cohesive societies, Politics, Islam, interfaith, India and Peace. Over a thousand articles have been published on the topics and two of his books are poised to be released on Pluralism and Islam. Mike's work is reflected in 4 website's and 27 Blogs indexed at http://www.mikeghouse.net/ and you can find all of his current articles at www.TheGhousediary.com

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Peace is attainable and we should not give up on it. The Jews deserve security and the Palestinians the hope. Both deserve peace and security.

"Peace hinges on hopes for the Palestinians and security for the Israelis, anything short of justice will not produce sustainable peace" - If Jews and Muslims can take the position that we cannot have peace when others around us don't and work on first removing bias and stereotyping from their own minds, conflicts will fade and solutions emerge. (more on left panel) Mike Ghouse

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Sixty years have gone by and yet we do not have hope for the Palestinians and Peace for the Israelis. Is it because we have been coerced to listen to the Hawks, who revel in death and destruction of the other?

The Israelis, the Palestinians and the Americans must insist on electing the leaders who will achieve peace without rejoicing the other's destruction. Any one who talks war must be asked to step down at once. The Billions we give them must be tied to their ability to bring peace.